Self-ignition gas burner



Feb. 19, 1952 WATERS SELF-IGNITION GAS BURNER Filed Feb. 11, 1947 INVENTOR *7/17 [Maj/1M Patented Feb. 19, 1952 UNITED S TATE-S IPA'TEIN ()FFfliCiE 2,586,278 males-115m GAS'PBURNER' HafiyWiitersjNew York, N. Y. Application February 11, 1947, Serial No. 727,899

2 Claims. I

This invention'relates to improvements in gas burners, and, more particularly, to range-type burners having automatic igniting means associated therewith.

In domestic gas burners, considerable difficulty and danger arises from the fact that unattended equipment, such as pots or the like, may boil over and the contents extinguish the gas flame, without any means being provided for reigniting the flame. I have now discovered that all these dangers can be obviated, and gas burners can not only be automatically reignited, but automatically ignited, Without requiring matches, torches, or any kind of special equipment.

Essentially, the novel idea of my present invention comprehends the mounting of special catalyst elements on or juxtaposed to burners in such a manner as to insure the automatic ignition of any gas-air mixture issuing from the burners. Desirably, the invention comprehends the utilization of special catalyst metal elements, such as platinum-rhodium alloys, as described in my application (Serial No. 693,967, filed August 30, 1946), wherein the coiled element may be used for ignition, either alone, or in association with an electric preheating or energizing circuit.

In the present instance, the special alloy coils are mounted in open ended cages, which are, in turn, mounted on a protecting, supporting plate ,or holder, which can be permanently or detachably secured to a burner. In special instances, the invention comprehends the utilization of units disposed within the burner structure and selectively energized, if desired, by low voltage current, as described in my application, above identified.

The features of novelty and advantage of the present invention will best be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein there is illustrated a preferred form of the invention, and in which Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a conventional burner with catalyst igniter elements;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail of an element as shown in Fig. 2.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, there is shown a conventional star burner l0, having radial arms H extending from a central toroidal chamber l2. The arms H are hollow and are provided on their upper surfaces with aligned burner apertures 13. This structure is conventional and is described only for the purpose of illustrating the invention herein.

A mica plate 20, mounted on spaced depending fingers or supports 2|, is provided with series of peripheral apertures 22, each of which is adapted to receive a catalyst case 30 in which is mounted a spiral catalyst element 3|. The cases 30 are open at both ends, and the upper end may be flanged, as indicated at 32, to serve as a supporting shoulder for retaining the cases in the apertures22 0f the plate 20. It will be seen that when a gas-air mixture is fed from the chamber l 2 to the arms I I, and issues through the apertures l3, the catalyst casings 30, being aligned over the innermost orifices, will receive the direct flow of the air-gas mixture. Because of the catalytic action of the platinum coil mounted in the casings, the air-gas mixture will be ignited, so that the entire burner will be ignited thereby. If, as indicated above, the flame of the burner is extinguished from any cause, either by wind, or spilling of liquids, the catalyst elements still remain effective, and will automatically reignite the gas-air mixture flowing from the burner, thus providing a highly desirable and strictly automatic safety reignition feature which is always functional in the presence of the flow of the air-gas mixture from the burner.

The catalyst casings 30 may be separately packaged and supplied to users, being readily replaceable, and, with the special removable or insertable holder plate 20, are adapted for use with conventional burners, as already noted. The plate 20 and its supporting legs may be cast of any suitable metal, as a unitary element, or a mica plate may have metal legs attached thereto in any suitable manner. Desirably, the supporting legs will be so constituted and arranged as to provide a gripping fit with the exterior surfaces of the core of the burner, and the apertures 22 receiving the catalyst casings will be in alignment with the apertures l3 of the burner.

It will now be appreciated that there has been provided no'vel self-igniting catalyst structures forgas burners and supports therefor which insure automatic ignition and reignition of gas burners under all conditions of use.

What I claim is:

1. A self-ignitiongas-burner including in combination a horizontally disposed burner provided with a gaseous fuel inlet and a plurality of fuel outlets, a circular disk provided with a plurality of apertures disposed in spaced and parallel relation about the center portion of the burner, the

apertures of the disk being aligned with certain of the fuel outlets, a tubular casing removably mounted in each aperture of the disk with the lower end thereof spaced from th top of the burner, and a coil catalyst mounted in each tube in the path of the fuel from the respective outlet to cause incandescence in the coil catalyst to ignite the gaseous fuel.

2. A self-ignition gas-burner as claimed in claim 1 wherein the tube is provided with an 10 2,186,995

annular flange at one end to limit the projection of the tube in its aperture of the disk.

HARRY WATERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 874,637 Struller Dec. 24, 1907 1,039,612 Struller Sept. 24, 1912 2,073,448 Fruth Mar. 9, 1937 Schmitt Jan. 16, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 287,170 Germany Sept. 16, 1915 390,275 France July 24, 1908 

